Comparing the Social Criticism of Voltaires Candide and Samuel Johnso

Comparing the Social Criticism of Voltaires Candide and Samuel Johnsons Rasselas Samuel Johnson and Voltaire were both(prenominal) writers of enormous social conscience in the eighteenth century. It is not affect then to discover that both men wrote short tales dealing in the first place with criticism of the human condition. Ironically, these books were written and published within weeks of each another(prenominal) in 1759 (Enright 16). Johnsons Rasselas and Voltaires Candide are strikingly similar in their use of the occasional(a) and romantic picaresque motifs. The underlying purpose within each authors criticism, however, allows many a(prenominal) differences in the two tales to surface. The authors intentions diverge beyond superficial similarities and each unravel develops a unique vantage point from which to observe humanity. Neither march can be accused of being a realistic tale. These incorrupt fables are set in a fantastic, utopian, and ludicrous world. The dis tance from the endorser in each tale is quite different, however. Johnson places realistic characters in an surreal world. He remains on the same level with his characters, describing the situations and environment in which they find themselves. In this manner the reader can identify with and timber empathy for the characters in Rasselas. They are thinking, caring, fallible human beings equal to the reader and the author. Voltaire creates a chasm between humanity and the world of Candide. The reader laughs not only at the situation or environment, for the characters are just as ludicrous as the world in which they live. It is possible that Voltaire wants his audience to assume a emplacement of moral superiority when reading the tale. The reader cannot take characte... ...liography Enright, D.J. Introduction. The account statement of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia. By Samuel Johnson. London Penguin Group, 1976. p.12,16. Hill, G.B. Introduction. The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia. By Samuel Johnson. Oxford Clarendon Press, 1887. p.17. Johnson, Samuel. The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia. Ed. Enright, D.J. London Penguin Group,1988. p.43,45,65,103 Johnson, Samuel. The Rambler No.184. Rpt. in Enright, D.J. Introduction. The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia. By Samuel Johnson. London Penguin Group, 1976. p.32. Maurois, Andre. The Sage of Ferney. Voltaire. New York D. Appleton & Co, 1932. Rpt. in Candide. Trans. Bair, Lowell. New York small Books, 1988. P.6-7. Voltaire. Candide. Trans. Bair, Lowell. New York Bantam Books, 1988. p.73,120.